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A Weekend of Movies

Happy Summer Break, y’all!!

I kicked off my vacation in style by taking in a movie on Saturday.

I had read the book way back in November and was thrilled when I learned that it was coming to the big screen.

The Mr., however, was not exactly chomping at the bit at the idea of seeing a “girlie” movie, so I had to make a decision:  wait for it to come out as a rental or go by myself.

Y’all, I have NEVER gone to the movie theater by myself.  Ever.

I am an introvert, but I’m also so socially awkward that I like to have one friend with me when I’m out like this.  I checked with one gal, but she had to work, so I was on my own.  I decided to go on Saturday because the Mr. had to work.

When I got to the theater, the auditorium was empty, except for two teenagers (you can’t see them because they are sitting in the top row).

Everyone was seeing other movies such as Wonder Woman and Pirates of the Caribbean.

It was nice to be able to put up my ankle without bothering anyone . . .

For the record, I put my phone away after taking this quick photo.

The movie was cute.  It’s not a movie I would typically pay to watch, but I had a vested interest after reading the book.  It stayed pretty true to the plot in the book, which was a relief to me.  I’m a purist and have high expectations for books that are made into movies.

On Sunday, the Mr. and I went to church and then, after a short break at home, went out to see Wonder Woman.

We had seen previews a couple of weeks ago, so I was looking forward to its release in theaters.

Oh.

My.

Golly.

What an AMAZINGLY FANTASTIC movie!

The entire story line flows.  The characters are perfectly cast.  The action is powerful.

There’s humor, there’s love, and it’s pretty clean . . . no cursing or nudity.

This is a movie that I’ll have to buy when it comes out on DVD; I’ll actually be able to show it in my classroom as a reward at the end of a tough semester.

I highly recommend this movie!

The Art of Finessing

Finesse…it doesn’t always mean what you think it means.

Especially if you teach at the high school level.

If you’re old, like me, when you hear the word finesse, you think of doing something with style.

In a way, this sort of fits the new-fangled slang that the kids have turned it into.

According to the Urban Dictionary, finesse means, “To talk someone out of their things. Not stealing persuading someone out of their belongs, or to do you a favor.

Please do not go to Urban Dictionary and look this up for yourselves.  The sample sentence that uses the word is definitely rated PG-13.

I’m just sayin’.

So anyhow, what in the world am I doing writing about a slang word?

Well you see, I tried really, really hard to finesse something from one of my students.

It all started last night when I posted the following picture on my favorite social media sites:

This book had arrived at my house just two days prior, and although I’m already in the middle of one book, I was curious, read the first two chapters, and was hooked immediately.

Rebecca commented on Facebook and told me how much she had enjoyed reading Everything, Everything by the same author.

I got excited because I already had that book in my class, so that’s what I looked for when I got to school this morning.

I couldn’t find it.

That meant one of two things:  1) A student was reading it, or 2) Someone had made off with the book already.

As my first period students began their silent reading today, I mentioned that I was looking for the book, and one of my girls told me that she had it.

Oh my.

I was so relieved and began hatching a plan.

A plan to finesse that book right out of her hands for the weekend.

When reading time was over, I asked if she was leaving it in her folder.

No such deal.

Dang.

I admitted that I had planned on finessing the book when she wasn’t looking because I really, really want to read it.

The entire class started laughing…because I was using their slang…and because I wanted her book.

She did take it home, which really is fine because I still have the newer book to read.

I’m going to have to work on my skills though.  Apparently my modus operandi is not stealthy enough.

And that’s Latin, not slang.

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